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SEO Tip of the Day- Intro to SEO Copywriting

SEO copywriting is all about perpetuating relevance between users and search engines. As a site’s relevance to users increases based on their interactions and usage patterns in analytics of a site, so does its relevance to search engines. The more relevant a page is to searchers, the higher the search ranking a page will receive. A website ranking on the first page of search results is a highly effective means of attracting targeted visitors.

In Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, SEO copywriting involved writing search-friendly copy for web pages where strategically-placed keyword phrases were added throughout a piece in specific frequencies and densities in order for search engines to assess how relevant the information on a page is for users searching those terms.

Approaching Web 3.0, algorithms of search engines have evolved to become more fine-tuned. Keyword use maintains its importance in SEO copy writing. Search engines are assessing not only the use and frequency of specific keywords on a page, but the activity of users as well:

What search terms landed a user on a page?

How much time did the user spend on that page?

How far into a site did the user explore before bouncing off the site?

If a user bounces quickly from landing on a page, it shows the search engines that the search term that brought a user to that site holds less relevance than the site on which the user lands, stays, explores, and converts — traffic conversion is when a user makes a purchase or fills out a form on a page.

User activity has become the strongest measure of relevance towards search engine ranking, and focusing on the search terms that landed and kept users on a page helps you fine-tune your site’s copywriting and keyword selection in order to create more relevance.

While there exists a variety of approaches and schools of thought in regards to SEO copywriting, we have a few of our own tried and true SEO copywriting tips:

1: Before writing a piece, consider a selection of your keywords and phrases that users might search for to be lead to your site.

Brainstorm an article that would be relevant to a searcher looking for those terms, and write your article accordingly. Google AdWords is a helpful tool for choosing and utilizing keywords.

For instance, we’ll pretend you sell red apples in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. You find your competitor ranks for the term “red apples in Brooklyn”. Your first consideration should be to rank not only for the keyword phrase “red apples in Brooklyn” but for “red apples in Greenpoint” as well.

3: Robots see words, but it’s the humans who have to read them.

Although SEO copywriting is written with the search engines in mind, human reactions and interactions with the pages ultimately shape how search engines measure and rank web pages. That said, always consider your warm-blooded audience first. If they’re not interested in what they’re reading, they’ll bounce off your site within seconds.

4: Choose a topic or angle that you are passionate about, and think like a searching reader.

What questions are searchers asking search engines that land them on the site?

What kind of information does your writing contain that enables a user to find what they’re searching for?

Recognizing a user’s path from search engine query to landing on a page where to find just what they’re looking for is an important consideration, and helps increase readership and visitation to your blog and website.